Rakim
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- rah-KEEM
- Origin
- Arabic
- US rank, 2025
- #6,442 for boys
Rakim is a boys' name of Arabic origin. In 2025 it ranked 6,442nd for boys in the US (13 babies).
What does Rakim mean?
Arabic: Arabic name, perhaps from raqim 'inscription' or a form of Rahim
Best known through the influential hip-hop MC Rakim, of the duo Eric B. & Rakim.
Is Rakim a girl's or a boy's name?
Rakim is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 13 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Rakim in the UK?
No boys in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 1998, with 9 boys.
Half of all the boys named Rakim in the UK since 1996 were born between 1998 and 2009, the years shaded on the chart below.
Rakim in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | #5,193 |
| 2022 | 3 | #5,017 |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 4 | #4,025 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 3 | #4,837 |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 3 | #4,691 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 3 | #4,486 |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 3 | #3,992 |
| 2004 | 5 | #2,691 |
| 2003 | 5 | #2,574 |
| 2002 | 5 | #2,358 |
| 2001 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | 3 | #3,146 |
| 1999 | 5 | #2,184 |
| 1998 | 9 | #1,446 |
| 1997 | 8 | #1,532 |
How popular is Rakim in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #6,442among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 13about 1 in 130,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Steadydown 7% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 13 boys in the US were named Rakim, making it the 6,442nd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,271st. Its busiest year was 1992, with 94 boys. It first appears in the records in 1981.
2025 had fewer boys named Rakim than any year since 2008.
Half of all the boys named Rakim in the US since 1880 were born between 1992 and 2011, the years shaded on the chart below.
Rakim in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 13 | #6,442 |
| 2024 | 23 | #4,430 |
| 2023 | 20 | #4,882 |
| 2022 | 28 | #3,876 |
| 2021 | 22 | #4,490 |
| 2020 | 23 | #4,271 |
| 2019 | 15 | #5,808 |
| 2018 | 22 | #4,472 |
| 2017 | 21 | #4,590 |
| 2016 | 32 | #3,440 |
| 2015 | 14 | #5,995 |
| 2014 | 28 | #3,691 |
| 2013 | 31 | #3,403 |
| 2012 | 16 | #5,476 |
| 2011 | 24 | #4,108 |
| 2010 | 18 | #5,044 |
| 2009 | 21 | #4,580 |
| 2008 | 11 | #7,182 |
| 2007 | 31 | #3,442 |
| 2006 | 21 | #4,366 |
| 2005 | 22 | #4,057 |
| 2004 | 20 | #4,259 |
| 2003 | 23 | #3,727 |
| 2002 | 28 | #3,184 |
| 2001 | 29 | #3,056 |
| 2000 | 31 | #2,858 |
| 1999 | 31 | #2,718 |
| 1998 | 60 | #1,697 |
| 1997 | 35 | #2,344 |
| 1996 | 33 | #2,375 |
| 1995 | 44 | #1,909 |
| 1994 | 52 | #1,711 |
| 1993 | 58 | #1,549 |
| 1992 | 94 | #1,131 |
| 1991 | 76 | #1,276 |
| 1990 | 80 | #1,221 |
| 1989 | 72 | #1,276 |
| 1988 | 76 | #1,151 |
| 1987 | 14 | #3,334 |
| 1986 | 5 | #6,715 |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 0 | – |
| 1981 | 5 | #6,260 |
Names like Rakim
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Hamza Muhammad Raheem Ahmed Abdullah Ibrahim Umar Qasim Mustafa Musa Rafi Fahad
Names related to Rakim
More Arabic names
Layla Mohammed Lyla Mohammad Zara Aaliyah Amir Amira Fatima Ali Yahya Zayn Aisha Omar Zahra Kairo
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Rakim: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/rakim, updated 20 October 2026.